Community, tech colleges won't outsource, chancellor says

Tennessee's technical and community colleges will not outsource management of their facilities to a private company, a decision one leader said was bolstered by an analysis of spending at each campus.

In an email sent Monday to college presidents in the Tennessee Board of Regents system, outgoing Chancellor John Morgan said an internal analysis showed that each campus' spending on facilities management fell well below the industry benchmarks identified by the state. Morgan said those findings — which included data from the system's 13 community colleges, 27 technical colleges and six universities — were part of the decision not to move forward with Gov. Bill Haslam's proposal to privatize management of state buildings in an effort to save money.

"While these numbers are still being validated by the (state), we feel any adjustments they might suggest will be immaterial," Morgan wrote to the presidents. "System institutions are operating very efficiently based on this analysis, raising the question of the value of pursuing a broad scale outsourcing initiative."

Workers' advocates have criticized Haslam's plan, saying it would mean some campus workers would lose their jobs or benefits. Haslam has said colleges would be free to opt in or out of the outsourcing plan, which has not been finalized.

Morgan notified the Haslam administration of his decision to opt out in a letter sent last week. That letter, which includes several concerns Morgan has with the plan, originally was obtained by The Commercial Appeal in Memphis.

In an email statement from the state's Office of Customer Focused Government, which is examining the possibility of outsourcing, spokeswoman Michelle R. Martin said officials were still working to analyze the data from the Board of Regents. Data on management expenses at the college system and in other state departments will be part of a "business justification" the state will use as officials mull the specifics of an outsourcing plan.

"The state’s facilities management project team is still in the process of developing its business justification and expects to have that completed and available to the public at the end of February," Martin said. "At this time there is nothing to take action on since the analysis has yet to be completed."

Morgan's comments on outsourcing mark the second time this month that he has come out against one of Haslam's plans for higher education in Tennessee. Morgan said last week that he would retire at the end of January because of the governor's proposal to split six universities off of the Board of Regents system and create separate governing boards for each of them. In his resignation letter, Morgan called the reorganization "unworkable."

In the outsourcing letter, Morgan told the Haslam administration that continuing with that plan might distract staffers from the expected governance change.

"Existing (Board of Regents) staff must adapt to the possibility of a new governance system and establishment of different relationships with former system universities," Morgan wrote. Moving forward with outsourcing "represents a risk to progress being made in a number of other initiatives led by the system office focused on student success and efficiency."

Morgan has recommended that the six universities make their own decisions about outsourcing, because they probably will have their own governing boards in the future.

"All available evidence, including the ... benchmarking (analysis), suggests that our institutions, including our universities, are operating efficiently," Morgan wrote. "However, given the impending changes, we believe it inappropriate for the TBR system office to make a decision on behalf of institutions that may soon be independent."